GRi Newsreel 26 - 02 - 2003
Govt will make a beacon in sub-region – Kufuor
NDC urges NRC to be more circumspect
Major Aquah's widow calls for fresh probe
Jack Bebli denies shooting witness' legs
Minister calls for
caution in use of biotechnology
Health Minister calls
for international debate
Budgetary allocation
to health sector to increase
Two foreign investors
commend President Kufuor
Polytechnic Students
to mark first anniversary
Rights violation of
older people on the increase
Farmers asked to
produce quality cocoa
Govt will make a beacon in sub-region – Kufuor
the Government’s
determination to make
President
Kufuor thanked Ghanaians in the
The
President made the remarks at Forum 2003 organised by the Ghana High Commission
in
The
forum, the second to be organised by the
President
Kufuor took the opportunity to underscore some notable gains of his government
since winning the 2000 Presidential and Parliamentary elections. On good
governance, he said the government had moved to consolidate it by
decriminalising free speech, strict adherence to the rule of law, increased
transparency in Government business and freedom of expression.
Touching
on the economy, President Kufuor said the government was moving the nation
forward through prudent and appropriate fiscal and monetary policies and cited,
as examples, the reduction of inflation to 12 per cent from 41 per cent and
decline of interest rate to 24.5 per cent from 52 per cent as at January 2001.
President
Kufuor said, amid cheers, that the maintenance of macro-economic stability will
continue so long as the NPP administration remained in office.
With
regard to the HIPC initiative, President Kufuor said the move had been
beneficial resulting in the cancellation of loans from donor community and
financial institutions. He said HIPC yielded ¢400bn to the nation in 2002 out
of which an amount of ¢118bn was allocated to 110 districts for specific projects.
President
Kufuor commended Ghanaians for sending remittances home in support of the
families, their business ventures and for putting up buildings and encouraged
them to increase the transfers which amounted to US$1.3bn last year.
He
touched on a number of projects which started during the year including the
construction of roads in many parts of the country. He mentioned arterial roads out of
On
foreign relations, he said the government had worked relentlessly towards
improving relations with
In
his welcome speech, Hon Isaac Osei said Ghanaians in the
The
forum provided an opportunity for members of the public to put direct questions
to the President and the members of his entourage. Despite the time constraint,
25 questions were asked with the President and the Deputy Foreign Minister providing the answers.
The questions and comments
from the floor centred among others, on operations of Ghana Airways, the Cash
and Carry system, the JSS scheme, importation of right hand drive vehicles into
Ghana, the need to provide incentives to Ghanaian nurses and the recent
increase in petroleum prices, purchase of vehicle for Speaker of Parliament,
revamping of Ghana Railway system and difficulties facing Ghanaians in the Diaspora
when searching for jobs after their courses abroad.
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NDC urges NRC to be more circumspect
It said the NRC
should also endeavour to investigate cases before allowing for public hearings.
This was contained in a memorandum to the NRC signed by Dr. Josiah Aryeh,
General secretary of the NDC.
Throwing more
light on the inaccuracies of the hearings, the memorandum said in one instance,
a "schizophrenic" was allowed to accuse former state officials on
national television while in another, a woman mentioned of the confiscation of
25 million cedis she kept in a box.
It said 25m
cedis in 1979 was too huge an amount to represent a Makola trader's weekly
sales, adding that the highest denomination then was ten cedi notes. The
statement said "It is unimaginable that an amount of 25m cedis could have
fitted into a chop box unless it was close to the size of a container".
The memorandum
also criticized the situation where one Captain Ben Duah was allowed to pour
"vitriolic invectives" on former President Rawlings, adding that once
the Captain did not accuse the former president of any misdeed, the Commission
appeared only to have provided a platform for his outburst.
The statement
cautioned that if such anomalies were not corrected, the Commission might end
up becoming a vehicle for division instead of reconciliation. It urged the
Commission to establish the credibility of witnesses before expressing public
sympathies for them during hearings, since that created the impression that
even before listening to the other side the Commission already believed their
stories.
The memorandum
said although the NDC believed in the need for national reconciliation, it had
to be non-retributive and bipartisan. It said judging from what had happened so
far, it was obvious that the New Patriotic Party (NPP) government had an
objective to exploit the proceedings of the NRC for propaganda purposes.
"The
Commission's own procedures are also tending to confirm the fear of
regime-targeting with the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council and Provisional
National Defence Council which are perceived as the predecessors of the NDC as
the main target," it said. The Memorandum urged the NRC to act in a
manner, which would disprove those fears and build up confidence and trust
among the citizenry.
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Major Aquah's widow calls for fresh probe
Accra (Greater Accra) 26 February 2003- Tearful Mrs
Jemima Acquah, wife of the late Major Sam Acquah, a retired army major killed
together with the three high court judges on 30 June 1982 , on Tuesday passionately appealed to the National Reconciliation
Commission (NRC) to institute fresh investigations into the circumstances
leading to her husband's death.
She tendered a
copy of the report by the Special Investigations Board (SIB) instituted by the
then Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) and said she believed that the
state sponsored the killing of her husband.
Led in evidence
by Allotei Mingle, Mrs Acquah narrated the story of how her husband was
abducted on Wednesday, 30 June 1982, and the announcement of his death later by
the then Chairman of the PNDC, Flt. Lt. Jerry John Rawlings on national
television.
She now stays
in a rented premise at the SSNIT Flats, Dansoman in
She said her pleas
to the man to allow her husband to finish his meal were to no avail and the
stranger pulled a pistol and threatened to kill Major Acquah if he resisted.
The man would also not allow her to fetch a pair of sandals for her husband as
he whisked him away.
Later another
man in smock emerged and reassured her that her husband would be brought back
safely after the interrogation. She said she hardly slept that night. The
following day she reported the abduction to Major Acquah's cousin, one Major
Keelson at Burma Camp and their Pastor at Odorkor.
From that day
crowds came to the house to sympathise with her and the children, one of whom
was then three years old. Mrs. Acquah said she had no news of the whereabouts
of her husband till the Sunday when Chairman Rawlings announced on Television
that her husband had been found dead and that a full-scale investigation would
be instituted into the death.
Mrs Acquah said
she collapsed upon hearing of the sad news. She said police CID later came to
interrogate her about the cause of her husband's death. Mrs Acquah stated that
she had still not got the convincing outcome of the trial of the murder of her
husband, who was found dead together with three former High Court Judges.
Mrs. Acquah
said the Ghana Industrial Holding Corporation (GIHOC) where her husband worked,
gave the family a funeral donation and allowed her to stay at their Dzorwulu
residence for six months after which she was asked to leave.
She said the
family to which SSNIT had rented the Dzowulu house asked her and the children
to stay on until they found their present residence at Dansoman. Mrs Acquah
said neither the Ghana Armed Forces (GAF) nor GIHOC had paid to them any
gratuity or end of service benefit of her late husband.
She said she
had to finance her children's education through proceeds from selling basic
wares and rented property of her late husband. The family of her late husband
collected all the husband's property and the care of the children was no
business of theirs.
When Uborr Dalafu
Labal II, asked about how she felt of the loss, Mrs. Acquah said it was most
disturbing to her when her children asked her to provide something to them and
she could not afford.
She said it was
disturbing when the children remarked that if their father were to be alive he
would have provided their needs willingly. She said the Lord had ordered
forgiveness and she had forgiven all those who offended them but stressed that
the killing of her husband had to be investigated again to ascertain the truth.
George Asare
Garbrah, a former Deputy Minister of Defence in Limann's Administration, told
the Commission of how he and his driver were tortured at Takoradi Air Force
Base following the
He said he had
gone to the Western Region to check on cocoa smuggling when the coup took place
and he obeyed an order from the new PNDC regime for all political functionaries
to report to the nearest Police station.
He reported at
Yaakese the day after the take-over, and was transported to Takoradi. Garbrah said 100,000 cedis belonging to the
Customs, Excise and Preventive Service (CEPS), 10,000 cedis being his personal
money and 5,000 cedis and a pistol belonging to his brother were all collected
from him.
He said at the
Takoradi Air Force Base he and his driver were stripped to their panties, a lot
of water was poured on them after which they were led into the guardroom where
they were severely beaten.
Later they were
sent to Sekondi cells where the beatings continued. They were transferred to
the Cantonments Police Station the following day where they were made to sleep
on the bare floor for the night.
Garbrah at this
point sat still and wiped tears from his eyes. He said they were transported in
a bus to the Usher Fort Cells and then to Nsawam Prisons. He said he was
detained in an over-crowded cell and spoke of how one day a prisoner died
slowly.
Garbrah, who is
an ex-pilot and a dentist, said they were removed from the Prisons and brought
to Gondar Barracks. At the barracks, they were made to sit on freshly quarried
stone and soldiers put some sand in his eyes. He was sent to 37 Military
Hospital for treatment, but this has affected his sight and his profession as a
pilot.
He said back in
the Nsawam Prisons, Professor Kofi Awoonor, then Special Assistant to the PNDC
Chairman and one Awotwe, who interrogated him told him that as investigators,
they would throw everything they had against him.
He said Prof.
Awoonor made him to sit on his hands and when a fly buzzed around him, he
teased him to kill the fly. Garbrah said he spent two years in prison and
developed high blood pressure. He said his timber business collapsed and his
licence as a pilot also got missing. He registered his strong abhorrence to
military coups. Hearing continues.
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Jack Bebli denies shooting witness' legs
Accra (Greater
Accra) 26 February 2003- Ex-Regimental Sergeant Major (RSM) Jack Bebli, on
Tuesday denied allegations of shooting made against him by Alex Kwabena Nsiah,
a 36-year-old witness at the National Reconciliation Commission (NRC), saying
he had never known Nsiah in his life.
Jack, who swore
on the Bible, told the Commission that he had converted from traditional
religion and become a born-again Christian worshipping with the
He is serving a
prison sentence for his role in the robbery of gold when a gang ambushed a bullion
van in the Central Region. Bebli added that he never believed Nsiah's story,
saying throughout his life, he had never shot a bird let alone a human being
and to have fired at Nsiah's legs.
Nsiah who
limped on a false leg to the witness seat told the Commission that Bebli led a
group armed men on an operation on
Nsiah said
after closing from work on that day he rode a motorbike towards Alajo to look
for food when suddenly he heard sounds of gunshots. As people ran
helter-skelter in the heat of the melee, Nsiah said he stopped at the side of
the road.
Bebli came out
from a Peugeot 504 car and called him a foolish boy. He then heard of a gunshot
and a bullet hit his right leg and penetrated into his left leg. He said Bebli
pushed him into a Land Rover vehicle and made him lie on top of a number of
dead bodies and drove off.
They ended up
at the 37
Nsiah said
there was no improvement in his condition at Korle Bu and he was sent to Larteh
in the Eastern Region for herbal treatment. He said his brother-in-law, who was
a policeman, arranged for him to be brought back to the 37 Military Hospital,
where his right leg was amputated.
He said while
on admission in the 37 Military Hospital, Police kept surveillance on him. Upon
his discharge from the hospital, he was sent to the Police Information Room,
and an hour later taken to the headquarters of the Bureau of National
Investigations (BNI), where Mr Peter Nanfuri, then BNI boss ordered that he
should be sent to the BNI Annex cells and locked up for two days.
Nsiah said when
he was brought back to the BNI Headquarters, Nanfuri and a Naval Captain
Baafour Assasie-Gyimah interrogated him about some soldiers in the Northern
Region. He said he told his interrogators that he had never been to that part
of the country and had no acquaintance there.
Back to the BNI
Annex, Nsiah said he met Sgt Alolga Akatapore, former member of the Armed
Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC), Captain Guseini Gambo and one Afriyie all
political detainees in the cells.
His
interrogators again asked him to tell the truth about his acquaintances in the
Northern Region and he maintained his earlier position. Nsiah said upon his
release, he engaged the services of a lawyer and he was given 523,264.25 cedis
as compensation.
He initially
declined to accept the money, but obliged on the advice of his brother-in-law,
who footed his medical bills. He asked for resettlement from the state. During
cross-examination by counsel for Bebli, Nsiah said he never knew Bebli personally
but had seen him on motorbike several times before the incident. He said there
were other people in the car when Bebli came out to talk to him.
Bebli said he
had denounced his first name Jack, which he described as "devilish",
and was now called Paul. He said throughout the previous night when he prayed,
God never revealed to him that he had ever shot Nsiah to admit culpability and
ask for pardon.
Bebli claimed
that he had had 64 years of service as a policeman and ex-guardsman to
Despite this
national service, he claimed, he was rather jailed on "an allegation of
gold robbery". Now Nsiah was also accusing him of having shot him.
Speaking in
broken English Bebli said: "I will tell the Commission that after all the
suffer, I suffer for the
Bebli, formerly
in Charge of the Police Commando Unit, told the Commission that 57 personnel
worked under him on day and night patrol duties to "protect the nation".
He said their ammunitions were checked after their duties, but he did not know
all the operations the personnel were engaged in at the time.
Bebli said the
personnel on duty often engaged in brawls with drivers, mostly taxi drivers,
over traffic offences, but said he was unaware of an operation codenamed
"Search and Destroy" carried out by the Commando Unit. He also denied
using a Peugeot 504 car for an operation as alleged by Nsiah in his testimony.
Hearing continues.
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Minister calls for caution in use of biotechnology
This, he said,
explained why his Ministry spearheaded the ratification of the Cartagena
Protocol on Biosafety, which seeks to assist parties to develop and implement
environmentally sound management of biotechnology at both the local and
international levels.
Prof Fobih
stated this in an address read for him by Ms Anna Nyamekye, Deputy Minister of
Science and Environment, at the Third National Roundtable Discussions on
Biotechnology held in
The event,
which was organised by the Biotechnology and Nuclear Agricultural Research
Institute (BNARI) of the Ghana Atomic Energy Commission (GAEC), was under the
theme "Environmental Degradation- Biotechnology to the Rescue?"
Prof Fobih said
the people of
"I am
aware of the potential of biotechnology as a tool for a cleaner environment.
Biotechnology processes and products can be deployed in the bioremediation and
microbial treatments of polluted water and soils, industrial and domestic
wastes as well as the development of diagnostics to enhance environmental
monitoring, assessment and management."
He said he was
also aware of the breathtaking advancements being made by the mining sector in
"The
socio-economic importance of a BIOX plant to the mining industry is that it
controls environmental pollution and increases gold output," he stated.
The Minister also said biotechnology processes and products have also been
widely deployed in the developed world for the treatment of wastewater, which
can be recycled.
"Modern biotechnologies
are also being exploited to convert agricultural wastes into biodegradable
plastics. The development of biodegradable plastics, I believe, will reduce the
proportion of non-biodegradable and ozone-depleting plastic bags in our
mountainous waste dumps, considering the fact that plastics have become the
packaging material for virtually all street foods, and drinks, in
particular."
He said the
conversion of agricultural waste and sludge into biogas is a technology process
and has already been demonstrated in Ghana – in Apolonia, Pokuase and Achimota
School, among others, adding that if this technology is efficiently applied in
small communities, hospitals and schools, it could reduce the nation's heavy
dependence on conventional sources of energy notably petroleum.
Biotechnology,
he said, could also be used to convert agricultural wastes into biofertilisers,
which are environmentally clean. Prof Fobih stated, however, that the goal of
the government of
He recognised
public awareness and participation as among the major activities in the
development of National Biosafety Frameworks, adding that BNARI, which is the
national executing agency, considered it expedient to hold such preliminary
roundtable discussions on biotechnology.
"I am
reliably informed that BNARI is seeking local and international support to hold
an international symposium on agricultural biotechnology, and therefore appeal
to both local and international donors to contribute generously in cash or kind
to transform the hope of holding the symposium into a reality.
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Health Minister calls for international debate
"I am
hoping that by this, an international debate will ensue and guiding principles
developed to guide the external brain drain where professionals leave for other
countries."
The Minister
made the call when he took his turn at the meet the press series in
Dr Afriyie
expressed the hope that ECOWAS would make an input at the world summit to stop
developed countries from recruiting health personnel from poor countries.
The Minister's
presentation was on the theme: "Health Is Wealth: Creating The Policy
Environment For Sustainable Health Care Development". He said the doctor
to patient ratio was now 1:22,000 whilst that of the nurses was 1:4,000.
Dr Afriyie said
government recently passed a bill on postgraduate training into law to ensure
appropriate professional development programmes. He said all regions had also
been tasked to establish community health nurses training schools to ensure
equity in the selection and training of staff. He added that nurses training
institutions had been encouraged to double their intake.
The Minister
mentioned the provision of vehicles and an improved working environment as some
of the incentive packages for health workers. The Minister called on Ghanaians
to adopt healthy lifestyles and keep clean environment as pre-requisites for
good health.
On HIV/AIDS, he
said school-based health intervention was a priority area for the ministry to
protect children that fall under the nation's window of hope from getting
infected with the virus.
The Health
Minister said complaint offices would be created in all hospitals and clinics
for patients to report any health official who charged illegal fees for the
necessary actions to be taken against offenders.
Dr Afriyie said
the Ministry had developed a strategic plan in response to enhanced
private-sector participation. "Currently, we have set a target of
increasing participation of the private sector in clinical care from the
current level of 35 per cent to 65 per cent in the next 10 years."
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Budgetary allocation to health sector to increase
Accra (Greater
Accra) 26 February 2003- Dr Kweku Afriyie, Minister of Health, on Tuesday said
government would increase its budgetary allocation to the health sector to 15
per cent by the year 2006, in line with the Abuja declaration that enjoined
governments to allocate that percentage of their budget to health.
He said for
several years the recurrent allocation to the health sector had been around six
per cent. However, he said government had increased this to 12 per cent for the
year, 2003.
Dr. Afriyie,
who was speaking at the "Meet the Press" series in Accra, said in
"respect of this, the government hopes to spend at least the equivalent of
one billion dollars between the period of 2002 to 2006 with about $600m
mobilised domestically and the remaining $400m from external sources."
He explained
that about 50 per cent of recurrent expenditure went to the district level
where the majority of the people lived in deprivation. "Releases from the
Highly Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) funds have been targeted towards the
deprived regions."
The Health
Minster said this year, about 46bn cedis had so far been allocated to the
districts and 24bn cedis had been set-aside for people under the exemption
policy.
Dr Afriyie listed five broad priority areas to be tackled by
the health sector in bringing health care services closer to the people. He listed the provision of adequate and
equitable financing programme, the creation of appropriate institutional
environment, the enhancement of the performance of health staff and upgrading
of evidence-based data for policy formulation as areas for action.
Dr Afriyie said
to ensure that health care was made affordable, the health insurance scheme
that was being piloted in some selected districts, would be extended
nation-wide this year.
He said the
Bill and Legislative Instrument for the scheme was ready to be laid before
Parliament. He mentioned affordable premium contribution from the informal
sector, direct contribution from employers and employees, contributions from
existing social security sources and the establishment of a health insurance
levy on basic consumables as some of the Ministry's options for financing the
scheme, to replace the "Cash And Carry" regime.
On
institutional reforms, the Minister said there was the need to decentralise
roles and responsibilities of institutions such as the Ghana Health Service,
for efficient provision of services.
He said the
policy of the Ministry was to develop autonomous bodies with requisite
relationship and accountabilities well defined. "We shall be paying more
attention now to the strengthening of regulatory bodies, especially the Foods
and Drugs Board, the Nurses and Midwives Council, the Medical and Dental
Council and the Traditional Medicine Board.
"In this
regard the Private and Maternity Home Board, is currently re-registering all
private clinics and hospitals with a view to eliminating unlicensed practitioners.
"With this development, the Ministry has itself been streamlined to be the
backbone for the provision of general governmental policy direction, resource
mobilisation, monitoring and evaluation as well as providing administrative
support for the Minister."
Dr Afriyie said
the Ministry was creating a research and information division within itself to
ensure that its programmes and policies were based on research findings.
"In this way we hope to narrow the research to policy gap and create a
situation where more appropriate use of research information will take
place."
On some
achievement and successes chalked by the Ministry, the Health Minster said
immunisation coverage had increased from 72 per cent to 85 per cent. "We
have also successfully conducted national immunisation days and coverage now
stands at 95 per cent.
"The
Guinea worm disease has gradually been decreasing and the disease is now
confined to three regions, namely, Northern,
He said
HIV/AIDS prevalence rate had remained stable at three to four per cent. In
terms of infrastructure, the Minster said 25 health facilities had been
rehabilitated within the past two years and the Ministry had received 350
vehicles within the same period.
Jake
Obetsebi-Lamptey, Minister of Information and Presidential Affairs urged the
media to dispel rumours and send out correct information about government
policies and programmes.
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Two foreign investors commend President Kufuor
The two, Subash
Nair and Avinash Yadav of Ebiz Infotech both based in the United States (US),
came to explore investment opportunities in the country and in the process fell
into the hands of an Advance Fee Fraud (419) syndicate.
Ebiz Infotech,
representatives of the two businessmen held a press conference in
Nair, leader of
the delegation said they arrived in
He said prior
to their arrival they had been contacted by one Francis Asante on the Internet,
who claimed he was in the gold business. Subsequently, Nair said, they met
Nair noted that
on their arrival in the country,
He said after
sometime they discovered that the goods were not shipped and also found that
the document issued to them, were forged. "We immediately reported the
matter to the Police CID and our Principals in the
Nair said in
their quest for quick response they appeared at the Peoples Assembly in January
2003 to attract the attention of the President on the matter who accordingly
promised to have the matter investigated.
He said
"To our amazement after 21 days of the Peoples Assembly the matter was
swiftly dealt with leading to the arrest of one the fraudsters where $20,000
was retrieved from him.
They, however,
expressed their appreciation to President Kufuor for his strenuous effort and
Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey, Minister of information and Presidential Affairs for
ensuring that the President's orders were executed. They also advised other
potential investors to contact the right authorities before carrying out their
investment plans.
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Polytechnic Students to mark first anniversary
GNUPS Press and
Information Officer, Douglas Ansong-Gyan told the Ghana News Agency that the
student body would organise a press conference on Friday, 28 February to mark
the day.
He said the
press conference would be used to inform the public on progress made by the
Ministry of Education and the student body to resolve the problem. Polytechnic
students on 26 February last year went on a demonstration during which they
blocked traffic from the main Tudu road to the Railway station area.
The students
clashed with the Police, when the police insisted on allowing only 30 students
into the Castle to present a petition. The students tried to force their way
into the
The
demonstration was against a new grading system, which pegged the pass mark at
50 per cent and to push the government to review the system. Twenty students
were arrested and three were injured.
The students
also listed six major problems of the polytechnics and said until they were
addressed, the new grading system would remain unfair. The problems were the
academic progression of the Higher National Diploma (HND) Graduate, job
placement of the HND graduate, autonomy of the polytechnics, lack of adequate
academic and administrative staff and infrastructure (both academic and
residential) and the implementation of Ken P. Brown and Professor F.O. Kwami's
reports. They urged the government to show more commitment toward resolving the
impasse and accused it of being silent on their plight.
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Rights violation of older people on the increase
He was speaking
at a two-day workshop in
The two
countries were chosen to represent the deep-rooted African cultural settings in
Munyama said
the research was important in fight to curb the rising victimisation of the
elderly and also to help find ways to assist them. He gave examples of such
cases where widows were subjected to dehumanising experiences while in certain
communities witchcraft was automatically associated with old age.
For witchcraft,
Munyama said victims were subjected to instant justice of beating and the worse
part was that "law enforcers are not keen to prosecute perpetrators,
because it has become an accepted social and cultural practice".
He added that
research had confirmed that older people were the poorest of the poor yet they
were not consulted on issues that concerned them. He lauded the efforts of Help
Age Ghana and the
The research in
Mrs Alberta
Ollenu, President of Help Age Ghana, said the society was changing and so was
attitudes in all spheres of society. She, therefore, welcomed the objective of
the research and said she was hopeful it would help boost the morale of older
people to contribute to the society.
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Farmers asked to produce quality cocoa
Kade (Eastern
Region)
M. D. Sewu,
Quality Control officer of the Ghana Cocoa Board in-charge of the Kade District
gave the advice at a farmers' forum organised by the Cocoa Merchant Ghana
Limited (CMGL), a licensed cocoa buying company (LBC) at Kade.
Forty-eight
farmers who sold their cocoa beans to the company were rewarded for good
performance with each receiving a cutlass and a pair of
On drying, he
asked the farmers to have the beans thoroughly dried up to five or six days.
Sarpong Siaw, the Kwaebibirem District Co-ordinating Director, asked farmers to
desist from indiscriminate bush burning, especially during the dry season to
avoid disastrous consequences.
He advised LBCs
to refrain from manipulating their weighing scales to cheat farmers. Francis
Frimpong, Human Resources Manager of CMGL, praised cocoa farmers in the Kade
District for the good quality cocoa they offered for sale.
The Kade
District Manager of the company, A. D. Mireku, while expressing gratitude to
the government for undertaking the mass cocoa spraying exercise, urged farmers
to take advantage of it to expand their farms to earn more income to improve
their living standards and educate their children.
He asked the
company to consider providing marketing officers with vehicles to facilitate
their work. Barima Gyakorang Adu Twum, II, Kadehene, asked the farmers to
reciprocate the gesture by selling their cocoa beans to the company.
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